NYIAS 2019: RAM Stripper and Pimp

The media preview days of the 2019 New York International Auto Show are over and the show is now open to the public. Go and enjoy it. But our coverage continues, mostly because we had other things to get to and couldn’t get everything done in a day like the big and famous automotive sites. But that also gives us an opportunity for some original content and not reworded press releases.

While aimlessly wandering the the downstairs truck section of the show I came upon the RAM (all caps) display. The heavy duty Ram 2500, 3500, etc. are all new for 2020. Not surprisingly they have the look and the cab layout of the smaller Ram 1500, which was all-new for last year. And that’s good, as in my opinion the cab of the 1500 is the best on the market. But as pickups get more even mainstream as many people replace their cars with them, we don’t often get to see the proper work truck interiors.

The big three, and in some ways Nissan and Toyota, still make proper work trucks. And those trucks still come with cabs lined with vinyl on the floors and German leather plastic on the seats. Best of all, three-across front bench seats are still a thing. What I find fascinating is the basic design of the dash board. It has to be modular enough and cheap enough to accommodate the work truck, yet versatile enough for the leather-covered giant screen in the Limited version.

Things to notice in these two pictures:

  • Gauge cluster differences.
  • Leather wrapping on the Limited.
  • Shifter differences.
  • Both trucks have push-button ignition switches. This means that throwing a potentially pricier push-button with proximity sensors and providing an electronic key-fob was overall cheaper than designing and manufacturing a second old-school ignition switch and a dumb key to be used on the base work fleet trucks.

Work trucks are cool. Owning a vehicle that you really don’t care too much about is sort of liberating. I’m glad that the industrious trucks still exist.

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15 responses to “NYIAS 2019: RAM Stripper and Pimp”

  1. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    “Work trucks are cool. Owning a vehicle that you really don’t care too much about is sort of liberating. I’m glad that the industrious trucks still exist.”

    ^^ This ^^

    All kinds of this.

    1. Professor BanannersHot Avatar
      Professor BanannersHot

      i’m trying to rectify my desire to get a new car with my adherence to this discipline of driving it like i stole it and never washing it

      new cars just can’t hang with this mindset

  2. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    Regarding push button ignition:

    My vinyl-floormat-spec work truck has key start, but if you only momentarily tap the key, the truck will continue to crank until it starts. In other words, the software is already there and the hardware just needs a push button.

    I think ignition keys will soon go the way of manual windows.

    1. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      Push-button ignition works better with work gloves, too. No need to remove them, dig into your pocket, find the key, and fiddle with the ignition switch. Just press and go.

    2. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      Push-button ignition works better with work gloves, too. No need to remove them, dig into your pocket, find the key, and fiddle with the ignition switch. Just press and go.

  3. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    Does the centre bench seat passenger get a proper seat belt? Or an airbag? A quick search suggests they don’t crash test that position.

    1. Kamil K Avatar

      Yes for seatbelt, questionable for headrest. The passenger airbag is over-sized and extend to the center seat.

      1. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        Thanks Kamil, that is how they did it with the Falcon utes here, there was a keyhole shaped passenger airbag with an extension on the side that started in the mid-90s (in sedans and wagons then, not utes which still used an older body)

        1. Eduardo Rodrigues Avatar

          In this 1995 Crown Victoria shows a big-ass passenger airbag who covers the middle seat passenger, those full size pickup truck must have a similar airbag too
          http://lov2xlr8.no/brochures/ford/95crown/bilder/6.jpg

    2. P161911 Avatar
      P161911

      On the 2011 Chevy Silverado, the center front passenger only gets a lap belt. No headrest, not sure about airbag.

  4. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
    SlowJoeCrow

    I prefer the stripper version. Too much complexity once you get past a stereo, air conditioning and a trailer brake controller.

    1. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar

      Agreed, on both the dash and the bench seat. I can’t figure out why truck consoles are so damn wide. Give me some elbow room; it’s not as though it’s a narrow vehicle.

  5. neight428 Avatar
    neight428

    Did the “Express” trim survive the Ram truck redesign? Bless FCA’s heart, they still offered their most powerful half ton engine in their lightest body configuration with minimal options for the rural hoon’s default new vehicle preference. Ford and Chevy had almost completely given up on regular cab trucks at all, and I don’t think I have seen a new body style Ram out there yet.

    1. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      Sadly, I think the new Ram is only available in quad or crew cab. No more regular cab.

      However, I’m pretty certain you can still get the F-150 XL with a regular cab, short bed, and 5.0 V8. I don’t think it’s available with the torquier Ecoboost V6, but the V8 still has 395hp/400lb-ft, and is more traditionally hoonish anyway. If I’m not mistaken, the Chevy is still available as a regular cab V8, but only with the long bed.

    2. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      Sadly, I think the new Ram is only available in quad or crew cab. No more regular cab.

      However, I’m pretty certain you can still get the F-150 XL with a regular cab, short bed, and 5.0 V8. I don’t think it’s available with the torquier Ecoboost V6, but the V8 still has 395hp/400lb-ft, and is more traditionally hoonish anyway. If I’m not mistaken, the Chevy is still available as a regular cab V8, but only with the long bed.